Economic Beat

Job Gains: When a Little Seems Like a Lot

The gains in jobs are real but pitifully small.

This economic era of falling expectations can only make us grateful for the October jobs report. In bygone eras, we'd be comparative ingrates.

According to the data, released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and gathered before Hurricane Sandy struck, nonfarm payroll employment rose in October by 171,000. The unemployment rate was basically unchanged at 7.9%, ticking up a statistically meaningless tenth of a percentage point....